New solar-powered pedestrian warning signs could be installed at three crosswalks on Melton Lake Drive under a contract to be considered by Oak Ridge City Council on Monday. (Submitted photo)
Solar-powered pedestrian warning signs and new pavement markings could be installed at three crosswalks on Melton Lake Drive.
The crosswalk improvements are proposed at Amanda Drive, Emory Valley Road, and Rivers Run. They will be considered by Oak Ridge City Council on Monday night.
The Oak Ridge city staff has recommended awarding a roughly $38,000 contract to First Place Finish of Oak Ridge for the crosswalk work, which could start in April and be completed in four to six weeks. The bid was the lowest of four received, City Engineer Steven R. Byrd said in a memo to City Manager Mark S. Watson.
The project would be paid for using money from a special programs fund set up for revenues from red-light and speed enforcement cameras. Projects are selected from a list presented to City Council during a January 2011 work session and locations listed in an Oak Ridge bicycle and pedestrian plan approved by Council in April 2011.
After the Melton Lake Drive project is completed, the Oak Ridge Public Works Department will have spent about $330,000 from the special programs fund, leaving an estimated balance of $877,000, Byrd said.
Byrd said the solar-powered pedestrian warning signs would be activated by push buttons, and they include rapid-flash beacons.
“Studies have shown that these enhancements substantially increase the compliance of vehicles yielding to pedestrians and enable pedestrians to cross more quickly,” Byrd said.
He said the beacons could also be used later elsewhere in Oak Ridge, including at Emory Valley Road and Emory Valley Center.
Byrd said the next proposed safety enhancement project will be at several Oak Ridge Turnpike intersections and at other city street intersections. That project would be completed this summer for an estimated $150,000. More details will be presented in an upcoming City Council work session.
Money from Oak Ridge’s four traffic camera systems has previously been used to build five new sections of sidewalk along South Illinois and Jefferson avenues.
That project was expected to use roughly $217,000 from the special programs fund to build the sidewalks and install crosswalks, pavement markings, and pedestrian push buttons at traffic lights.
City Council meets at 7 p.m. in the Municipal Building Courtroom.
